In Time

Andrew Niccol wrote and directed this 2011 film, which stars Justin Timberlake as a man living in the ghetto of Dayton in the future. Exactly how far in the future is unclear, though in most respects the time closely resembles the present day. In this future, people no longer age post-maturity; at age 25, they simply stop growing older and continue to look 25 no matter how many more years they live. But, ostensibly to avoid overpopulation, everybody has an internal timer, visible through the skin of their arm, which reads out how much time they have — and everyone is given one year on their 25th birthday. When that time runs out, they simply die. Surviving past one’s 26th birthday means that one has to earn additional time, and time has become the main currency in the world. People spend time on goods and services, earn time for their work, and steal time from each other on the streets. The rich have eons and live in luxury; the poor quite literally live from day to day.

It’s a concept with a lot of ramifications, with many different aspects that could be explored. I have no qualms in saying that it’s perhaps one of the best and most creative science-fiction concepts to hit the cinema in years. But my praise for this film largely ends with the concept; the rest of the film just doesn’t live up it.

TRON: Legacy

The original TRON, about a man trapped in a computer world he created, was only a modest success at the box office. It probably wouldn’t seem like much of a candidate for receiving a sequel, particularly years after the fact, even given Hollywood’s current tendency to sequelize or remake absolutely everything from the 1980s. But the movie developed a cult following in the years since its release, and in 2010, Disney evidently felt the time was right to revisit the property.

It’s a rare instance of a 30-year-later sequel actually being worth watching in its own right. And it even manages to pull off the delicate balancing act between paying heed to the original while standing on its own legs. People who haven’t seen TRON could still enjoy TRON: Legacy; people who have, will have a little more grounding in which to enjoy it.